What are the intermediate driver’s license restrictions?

Q: When can someone get an intermediate driver’s license, and what are the restrictions?

A: The minimum age is 16. Instruction permits can be obtained at age 15.

To get an intermediate license, teens have to show Department of Licensing staff proof of passing an approved driver training course with at least 30 hours of classroom and six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction, among other requirements.

DOL materials show intermediate license holders have the following restrictions:

For the first six months, no passenger less than age 20 may be with the license holder unless the passenger is an immediate family member.

Until the license becomes a basic driver license on the holder’s 18th birthday, that person may drive with no more than three passengers under the age of 20. An exception is made for immediate family members.

Penalties are detailed on page five of the DOL’s Washington Driver Guide, available here as a PDF.

Washington teenagers could get a basic license at age 16 a decade ago.

In 2007 – six years after the intermediate licenses took effect – fatal crashes for Washington’s teenage drivers dropped 50 percent, according to state statistics. But many teen drivers still ignored the law. Read more here.

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